ALBANY — Week four of New York’s latest experiment with dysfunction — the still-shuttered State Senate—begins today with the sides still far apart on the key question of who will lead the 62-member chamber.

The rhetoric was upbeat from both sides Sunday night, following another brief special session in which, once again, no bills were passed. But just beneath the surface it is clear that the sides still have much work to accomplish before life in Albany will return to some semblance of normalcy.

Lawmakers start this week knowing they will not be paid like Assembly members on Wednesday. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said last week he will be withholding paychecks to senators because there is no clear leader of the Senate to authorize the disbursements.

“We are making progress,” said Sen. Thomas Libous, a Binghamton Republican who is a member of a negotiating team working on details of how the Senate might be organized if there is a power-sharing deal between the two factions.

“I think everybody wants to get back to work,” said Sen. Jeff Klein, a Bronx Democrat involved in the talks.

But, despite the jovial mood in the hallways Sunday night — possibly because most senators beat it out of town early Saturday to enjoy the July 4 holiday at home — in large part the sides are where they were in this fight three weeks ago.

Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx, elected Senate president in the June 8 coup when he joined with Republicans, and Sen. Dean Skelos, a Nassau County Republican elected majority leader, insist the Democrats have to honor the outcome of the surprise takeover that day. Democrats have had a simple response: No.

Espada said the talks are “aimed toward really having an 18-month agreement that recognizes June 8. I know that’s been part of the mantra, but that’s going to be part of the agreement.”

Democrats, though, do not recognize the legitimacy of the coup. And they dismiss Espada’s idea of rotating Senate presidents on a six-month basis.

“The way to get out of this is to have a bipartisan working agreement to pass legislation, and right now they refuse to do anything unless Pedro is the president and Dean is the majority leader. Now, how we get by that I’m not sure,” said Sen. William Stachowski, D-Lake View.

Espada has been urging Paterson to put the leadership issue to the floor in a special session agenda if there is much more of a delay in reaching a deal. But aides to Paterson say such a scenario is unlikely.

The sides did not meet on Sunday with Paterson, who has served as mediator in the stalemate over the past several days.

“We may have to resolve this without him,” Espada said.